It is to my understanding the C of S is moving out of its present location due to the sale of the property. Is the C of S property in Sandy Springs anywhere near ready for them to move into? Has the City of Sandy Springs issued a letter of occupancy?

Last time this poster looked at the Sandy Springs property,it was nowhere near completion. Parking lot is the same and the building looked to be in a state of unfinished build out.

It is to my understanding the C of S is moving out of its present location due to the sale of the property. Is the C of S property in Sandy Springs anywhere near ready for them to move into? Has the City of Sandy Springs issued a letter of occupancy?

Last time this poster looked at the Sandy Springs property,it was nowhere near completion. Parking lot is the same and the building looked to be in a state of unfinished build out.

Last time I was by there, it was nowhere near ready to move into. Mike Rinder has posted a couple of times recently about fundraisers, and once about a "staff raiser". It sounded pretty pathetic, actually.

Although I don't understand why they need a fundraiser, if the building is ready to open.

Oh, silly me. There's always the IAS war chest to fund, and books to buy for the libraries to throw out, and lawyers to pay, etc.

I wonder how they will be working out the logistic,s on parking and crowd management? As we locals know,the location is very thin on parking and rather hamstrung due to the building being on a corner with two busy roads right up next to the building.

The curious side of me wants to witness this event,but I just do not want to deal with the traffic/parking mess. Now if someone wanted to protest this location in the future,I would be down for that.

OR I could go watch this circus and have one of my drones be my eyes in the sky!

I wonder how they will be working out the logistic,s on parking and crowd management? As we locals know,the location is very thin on parking and rather hamstrung due to the building being on a corner with two busy roads right up next to the building.

The curious side of me wants to witness this event,but I just do not want to deal with the traffic/parking mess. Now if someone wanted to protest this location in the future,I would be down for that.

OR I could go watch this circus and have one of my drones be my eyes in the sky!

I can't imagine the traffic being much different than any other Saturday in Sandy Springs. Love the drone idea!

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The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual's own reason and critical analysis.-Dalai Lama

Scientology posted its official photos from yesterday’s opening of an Ideal Org in the Atlanta area. The Bunker’s own correspondents on the scene reported that there were fewer than 400 folding chairs and the overall crowd may have numbered around 500 which, Mike Rinder had found, was mostly bussed in from places like the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida. But on its website, Scientology is claiming that 1,500 were in attendance.

“We deal with addicts, we deal with felons and those wishing to start life anew. It’s a tough crowd, but after a person goes through a The Way to Happiness class at our center, I see the message stays with them. What we are dedicating today is a greater purpose, an assignment to transform tomorrow for the better.”—Mr. Orlando Johnson, Director of Agape Community Education and Resource Center

Thanks to smart planning by a couple of our readers, we have a complete video of Scientology leader David Miscavige’s speech Saturday as he opened the organization’s new “Ideal Org” in an Atlanta suburb.

The Atlanta facility is the first Ideal Org Scientology has opened in the US in nearly three years, but photos from the event show a crowd of only about 500 people gathered at the building in Sandy Springs, Georgia. As usual, Miscavige presided over the ceremony while an image of him was projected on a large screen nearby.

Scientology goes to great lengths to keep non-Scientologists far away from these events by blocking streets, sidewalks, and with the use of security personnel, so that we get only partial views of what’s going on.

A comment that was added to Mike Rinder's blog on the full costs of the Atlanta Idle Org:

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Alright, I’ve had this tale bottled up for too long now, here goes:

The original budget set for the new ideal org of Atlanta was 6 million dollars; although it was a mere fraction of the final cost, the local scientologists were flabbergasted.

After a few years of fundraising, they had enough money and found a building. This building was highly favored by the then Executive Director (ED), who sent the paperwork and schematics of the building up to Int Management. However, Int, being the slow, micromanaged apes that they are, took months to approve the building. In this time, the building was bought by someone else. The ED, desperate for this specific building, negotiated a terrible deal for the building, pushing the cost of purchasing the building up to 6 million dollars. (It was originally 4 million into purchase and 2 million in renovations)

And then Int rejected the building. Oops.

Int claimed that it was too small for an ideal org and not well-situated in terms of foot traffic. Oh well, too late now, just got to roll with it!

This building, in addition to its flaws, was going to cost 3 million to renovate, instead of 2 mil. So this fundraising persisted until around 2008 or so. At this time, Another bomb was dropped: another 3 million was required to bring the building up to Sandy Springs’ new code. And, as the building was never fully inspect before purchase, they found asbestos and lead paint in parts of the building! Keep in mind this: they had held events in this building for years before this discovery was made.

So with 6 million in purchases, and another 6 million in renovations, what else could go wrong? The property war.

Sandy Springs, clearly not wanting a cult headquarters just down the street, sued Scientology too get out of the area. Their claim was that the org didn’t have adequate parking spots and that this could negatively affect the community or something like that. It was a valiant effort, but it ultimately failed. It did, however, cost the locals about a million in legal fees and a couple years in time.

Finally, they did it! They managed to raise the final dollars on the now 13 million dollar org. This occurred in February 2014, and yet, the Atlanta org didn’t open until April 2016. See the problem.

As luck would have it, the building, which had been sitting uselessly for years at this point, had begun decomposing. Load-bearing beams were rotting, the foundation was cracked, and various broken water pipes had flooded certain areas of the org. Actually, the a fair portion of the org’s CF was, I shit you not, left in a room that flooded for months at a time. This nearly destroyed half the CF. (which is probably not a bad thing really)

This rotten building was going to cost (prepare for this) an additional 6 million dollars, three for renovations and three for FFE!

What the hell is FFE?

Fixtures: light fixtures, gas and water pipes, etc.

Furniture: pretty self-explanatory.

Equipment: This is all the E-meters and books that the org must buy from Int. (Why can’t the mother church just loan them the books and have them pay back Int when they are sold? Does Int have such little confidence in Atlanta’s ability to sell anything that they need an upfront payment.)

Needless to say, the local field was crushed, but they carried on like the beaten housewives they were/are. They had grown used to amount increases; they were now numb to Int incompetence.

By Christmas, renovation amounts had been finished, and by St. Patrick’s day, the FFE had been completed. But wait! Someone forgot the 500,000 dollar back tax/some kind of property tax that was still unpaid. (It just keeps going) So, at an event that literally lasted until 2 in the morning, big donors agreed to pay up one last time. The fundraising was completely finished by 2:00 am, Easter Sunday, 2015. (I’m sure there’s something ironic about this.)

So at the end of the day, it was 19.5 million dollars, right?

Nope. All those figures I gave you were round up or down, which ever way would sound better to the local scientologists. You add in the credit card fees and the amount that was spent on events over those 11 years, and the final amount is just over 22 million dollars! So much for 6 million, amirite?

The display room also lets the local church indirectly respond to controversy that has dogged Scientology since the 1970s, when several of its top leaders–none of whom remain in office–were imprisoned in relation to a plan to infiltrate various U.S. government agencies. The 1995 death, from disputed causes, of a Scientology member under the care of a church organization in Florida has sparked regular protests, including a 2008 march outside the local chapter’s former building in Dunwoody. The recent documentary film “Going Clear” repeated many allegations that Scientology is abusive of some members and harasses its critics; Scientology officials say such claims are false and that the church is a target of persecution.

“My response would be…anyone that actually comes to the church and finds out for themselves, finds out that all that is hogwash,” said Deb MacKay, the local church’s community affairs director. Visitors discover that “98 percent of what they heard or read on the internet was perpetrated by some person who had an ax to grind” or the result of media manipulation, she said.

“My response to that is come and find out for yourself,” MacKay added. “It’s not frightening. It’s very welcoming. There are no secrets here. People are happy. So come and find out for yourself.”

That's the first I've heard of Deb McKay in a while. She's still spouting the party line (https://youtu.be/iCQ0vDAbF7s), but here's the real hogwash:

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Another feature is the “purification center,” a kind of health spa with a sauna, large dispensers of vitamin pills, and treadmills facing a mural of the Atlanta skyline and Georgia peaches. Scientologists believe that toxins built up in the body can be removed in the center. Banks said one member’s sweat during such a purification was purple from toxins.

Yeah. It would be nice for the media to at least mention the controversy surrounding scientology and the front groups.

« Last Edit: April 09, 2016, 08:24 by mefree »

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The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual's own reason and critical analysis.-Dalai Lama

“My response would be…anyone that actually comes to the church and finds out for themselves, finds out that all that is hogwash,” said Deb MacKay, the local church’s community affairs director. Visitors discover that “98 percent of what they heard or read on the internet was perpetrated by some person who had an ax to grind” or the result of media manipulation, she said.

IMO, that will make people look more closely on the internet. And are there that many people with an "ax to grind"? Hmmm, I guess so. Wonder why?